Migration Information Source

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While many countries are increasing engagement with their diasporas, U.S. policy has chiefly focused on U.S.-based diasporas from other countries, despite its own estimated overseas population of 7.6 million. This feature explores results from a survey of more than 1,400 U.S. citizens and 140 former citizens living abroad, many of whom are critical of limited U.S. government engagement with them even as restrictive financial reporting regulations have been imposed.

With more than 1.8 million immigrants living in the United States, the Philippines was the fourth largest country of origin in 2013. Filipino immigrants stand out from other top immigrant groups with their unique historical experience as former nationals due to U.S. annexation of the Philippines in 1899, close historic ties to the U.S. military, and prevalence in health-care professions.

Public frustration with decades of poor governance and pervasive corruption in Ukraine culminated in the EuroMaidan revolution in November 2013. Since then, violent conflict and Russia's annexation of Crimea have displaced an estimated 2 million people, both internally and internationally. This feature article explores migration ambitions among Ukrainians in the lead-up and aftermath of EuroMaidan, and the impact of war and economic crisis on traditional migration patterns.

In 2013, more than 25 million people in the United States reported limited English proficiency (LEP), an 80 percent increase since 1990. The LEP population, the majority of which is immigrant, is generally less educated and more likely to live in poverty than the English-proficient population. This Spotlight explores key indicators of the LEP population, both U.S. and foreign born, including geographic distribution, language diversity, and employment.

As legal challenges continue to impede President Obama's deferred action programs to protect millions of unauthorized immigrants from deportation, it is becoming increasingly clear that the window of opportunity for implementation before the 2016 election is growing ever narrower. Even as advocates continue mobilizing immigrants to apply, attention is shifting to other new policies announced by the president last November.

Even as Nepal will lean more heavily on its international diaspora to help recover from devastating earthquakes that killed thousands and decimated parts of the country, the disasters have had effects on internal migration. Class and gender dynamics have long driven significant internal flows. This feature article explores migration trends in Nepal, including movement between ecological zones, growing urbanization, and the feminization of an increasingly mobile workforce.

Use this data tool—referred to as “one addictive interactive map”—to examine immigrant populations by country of origin and destination. Find out how many Americans live in Mexico, how many Ukrainians in Russia, or Filipinos in Saudi Arabia, for example.

Whether as migrant-sending or migrant-receiving locations—or both—many countries have rich, complex international and internal migration histories. MPI's online journal, the Migration Information Source, offers profiles of more than 70 nations. Written by leading scholars, these profiles delve into countries' migration histories, demographics, policymaking, and more.

In 2012, significant challenges to existing EU policy, from Schengen to the Common European Asylum System, have constituted the chief concerns for migration management for both EU Member States and the European Commission. Beyond EU borders, there will be additional pressure for the European Union to offer a more concerted humanitarian response to the Syrian refugee crisis affecting Europe's neighbor Turkey in 2013.

Reform of the U.S. immigration system has been an elusive goal for more than a decade. But as 2012 draws to a close, it appears that substantive reform could be back on the agenda in 2013 for the Obama administration and Congress, powered there in significant measure by election results that held a message for both political parties. Even before the election, however, there were some signs of an emerging thaw.

More than 465,800 Syrians were registered as refugees during 2012 or were awaiting assistance, and another 2 million Syrians were internally displaced as a result of the prolonged armed conflict. On the African continent, difficult humanitarian situations also were unfolding.

The electoral fortunes of far-right parties, a number of which campaigned using anti-immigrant messages, varied during 2012, with notable albeit small advances for Greece’s extremist Golden Dawn party. For the most part, however, extreme-right politicians continue to struggle to build sizeable support; and in Europe, the anti-immigration discourse has been overshadowed by anti-Brussels rhetoric and anger over high unemployment and austerity measures.

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UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who announced his resignation this week, leaves behind an immigration system that has been fundamentally reshaped. As MPI's Will Somerville explains, migration is now "managed" to favor migrants coming for work and study.

In the United States, the academic success of children of Chinese and Korean immigrants usually is attributed to either their culture or the U.S. immigration system, which favors skilled migrants. Min Zhou and Susan S. Kim of the University of California, Los Angeles compare the after-school institutions in these communities to explain the effect of ethnicity on educational outcomes.

Since 2003, the Netherlands has instituted a variety of integration-related reforms to make sure new immigrants speak Dutch and understand Dutch society. But the political climate changed in 2006, and the new government is taking a broader approach as Chavi Keeney Nana explains.

Resources

In the Spotlight

State Immigration Data Profiles

Want the latest facts and data on immigrants in the United States? Search U.S. Census data on U.S. immigrants and the native born nationally and by state based on demographic, language and education, workforce, and income indicators.

Every year, the Migration Information Source compiles the Top 10 Migration Issues of the Year, assessing key developments globally regarding immigration developments, policies, and trends. Visit our Top 10 Library today to check out the top migration developments of the year from 2005 onward.

MPI's Data Hub

The Data Hub showcases the most current national and state-level demographic, social, and economic facts about immigrants to the U.S.; as well as stock, flow, citizenship, net migration, and historical data for countries in Europe, North America, and beyond.

The Migration Information Source has published a series of special issues that focus on particular migration trends of note, among them "Migration in the Modern Chinese World," "Women and Migration," and a special issue on migration and development. Check out our Special Issue Library.